Song Challenge: Ken-chan
by Windfighter
Summary: Lalli stalks Emil through Mora. What he finds out may shock you!*


_*Shocking not guaranteed_

One more story for the song-challenge, inspired by the song _Ken-chan ~ Wormmon no theme #2_ from Digimon!

Warnings: Nope, none that I can think off!

* * *

Emil disappeared after dinner, just like he did every evening. Lalli heard the door close behind him and looked around to see if anyone else noticed it. No one moved. Well, he had had enough. He snuck into the hallway, put on his boots and left the house. It took him a couple of seconds to spot Emil, but instead of running up to him Lalli kept a few meters behind. Emil moved quickly, looked around and then disappeared into a building. Lalli hurried after him, but couldn't spot him so he let out a sigh and returned to the house. Five hours later, when everyone was getting ready for bed, Emil finally returned. Lalli looked at him, listened as he chatted casually with Tuuri, but nothing came up that gave Lalli any clue to where Emil had been.

Emil left again the next evening. Lalli had been ready for it, was already outside when it happened, and could quickly follow Emil's tracks. Once again Emil disappeared into a building and Lalli climbed it. From the roof he could see Emil running down one of the street with a bag thrown over his shoulder. Emil went into a large building with black roof and Lalli watched it for fifteen minutes, but when he couldn't see Emil coming out again he climbed down and ran to the building. As he came up to the door he could hear a woman yelling inside and he stopped, listened. She fell quiet again and Lalli opened the door and snuck inside.

The inside was almost as big as the outside. Lalli stared in awe at the sandy field infront of him. Swedes sure were weird, why else would they build a house just to protect a field that looked like nothing could grow on it? And, he looked around, why were there seats surrounding it? It didn't make sense. He took a step forward.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?!"

The woman he had heard earlier. Lalli froze.

"You are not allowed to be here!"

"Ah..."

Lalli perked up. He recognize that other voice and noticed a weird ugly moose coming closer. A horse according to Tuuri.

"I think he followed me."

There was a person ontop of the horse. Lalli could see blond hair sticking out from under the helmet. Emil. Lalli tilted his head and Emil scratched his neck.

"Hmf", the woman crossed her arms over her chest. "I guess he can stay. You can sit with Eva."

The woman gestured towards one of the benches and Lalli saw a girl sitting at it. He went over there and settled down next to her. She looked to be around 15 years old, with blonde, waist-lenght hair and sharp green eyes. She was dressed in black clothes, just like Emil and the woman, and had a helmet next to her. The woman started yelling again and Lalli watched as Emil let the horse carry him across the field, sometimes stopping momentarily when Emil pulled at the leather strap in his hands, but then the horse started walking again. It increased its speed, slowed down, bowed as if it was trying to get Emil off its back. The girl squeed next to him and Lalli couldn't understand why she was so excited about the beast trying to kill his friend. The horse walked sideways and the woman yelled again. Emil pulled the horse to a stop, laughed nervously and she hit his back with a short rod with a tiny piece of leather tied to the end., yelled some more and then the horse started moving again. It almost looked as if it was dancing and the girl squeed anew.

Lalli leaned forward on the bench, got ready to rush to Emil's aid if he needed to. He kept his eyes on Emil, watched for any sign that he was falling off. No such signs appeared and after a while Lalli started relaxing, started actually looking at Emil. Emil looked at home on top of the horse, he looked elegant. There was a calmness over him that Lalli hadn't seen before. Then the woman yelled again and Emil tensed up, pulled the horse to a stop and exchanged som words with her, before he slid down the horse. Eva got up beside Lalli and rushed to Emil's side and Emil laughed at something she said, patted her shoulder. He smiled towards Lalli as Eva took the leather strap that was tied to the horse and then the two of them walked away, went through a door on the other side of the field. The woman glanced at him before disappearing into another room and Lalli hesitated before following Emil and Eva.

"Hey Lalli!"

Emil waved from behind some type of door and Lalli walked up to it. The horse was in there with Emil, as was the girl. Lalli stayed outside. Emil brushed the horse, hummed quietly as he worked. After a few minutes he stopped, looked at Lalli.

"...Please, don't tell anyone."

"I don't get why", Eva said. "Everyone should know!"

"They will on Saturday", Emil muttered. "Anna wants to see the horse show..."

Lalli tilted his head and Emil continued working with the horse. Eva came up to Lalli and leaned against the door.

"You're his friend, right?"

"Maybe. Kind of."

"Tell him he's stupid. No one makes Ken-chan look as elegant as he does."

"...Kenchan?"

Eva put her hands to her sides, glared at Lalli.

"He's Ken-san for you, mister!"

Emil laughed and stopped brushing the horse again, patted its side.

"This is Ken-chan. Well, Ken, but Eva keeps adding a chan for some reason."

"It's what my parents taught me."

"Your parents are weird."

"So are yours."

"True."

Emil went back to talking care of the horse and Eva turned to Lalli again.

"Are you also coming on Saturday?"

"Saturday?"

"Eva wants all of Mora to see me make a fool of myself", Emil muttered. "I don't know what I did to deserve such hate."

This Emil was so different from the Emil Lalli had seen in Denmark or at the headquarter and Lalli tilted his head again. Eva went up to Emil and pulled his ear.

"I want everyone to see how elegant my Ken-chan looks and he looks his best with you on his back."

"You could ride him."

"Nu-huh, I'm riding Maria-san on Saturday, you know that."

"What's on Saturday?" Lalli asked before they forgot about him.

"It's a horse-show", Eva beamed. "There will be so many horses and contests and it will be wonderful!"

Emil laughed again.

"I'll tell you on the way home."

"So are you coming?"

Lalli wrinkled his nose. He didn't want to agree to something he didn't know what it meant. Last time he did he ended up in a weird foreign country together with a bunch of weirdos.

"...Maybe."

"At least _you've_ already seen me make a fool of myself", Emil said more to himself than anyone else.

Lalli wasn't sure if Emil meant in Denmark or what he had just witnessed on the inside field, so he just nodded. Emil continued cleaning Ken-chan and Eva kept teasing him, kept talking with Lalli and Lalli waited, didn't know what he was expected to do. After thirty minutes Emil put the tool he had been using for Ken-chan's feet down and smiled at Lalli.

"I just need to change clothes, then we can leave. Are you waiting here?"

Lalli followed Emil and Emil shrugged, waved at Eva.

"See you tomorrow!"

She waved back and the two men entered a small room. Emil changed out of the black clothes while Lalli looked around. There wasn't much to see, just benches to sit on and hooks to hang clothes on, so instead he stared at Emil. Emil got flustered and turned his back towards Lalli, finished changing and then they left the building. Emil started telling Lalli more about the horse-show, about Eva, about Ken, but Lalli couldn't keep up and only listened with half an ear. When they came closer to the house where Emil had disappeared Emil grabbed Lalli's arm and stopped.

"I need to drop the bag off at a friend's place. And Lalli..."

Emil looked at the ground, looked at Lalli.

" _Please_ , don't tell anyone."

Lalli nodded.


End file.
